Breakthrough Properties Secures Major Prelease for San Diego Life Science Build

Medical technology company BD Bioscience has signed a lease for the largest building at Breakthrough Properties’ Torrey View by Breakthrough, a 10-acre life science development from in San Diego. BD Biosciences will occupy a 220,000-square-foot space representing 40% of the total property.

Breakthrough Properties acquired the site in October 2020 in partnership with Tishman Speyer and Bellco Capital, and is building the development to LEED Gold standards. The project is located in the Del Mar Heights life sciences cluster and adjacent to biopharma workforce housing.

BD currently has a presence in San Diego with 4,000 employees, and this new lease illustrates the firm’s commitment to the market, which VP and general manager Steve Conly said was due to “the area’s vibrant business community and depth and breadth of talent” in a statement. Susie Harborth, EVP of operations at Breakthrough Properties, called BD “the type of dynamic and fast-growing firm” Breakthrough envisioned would occupy the property.

This lease deal is yet another example of life science growth in San Diego. A report from JLL in August found that demand for lab space had increased 280% since March 2020, driving a flurry of leasing activity in the market.

And there have been some big ones. In September, Kilroy Realty Corp. completed three major lease transactions in San Diego with publicly traded life science and biotech companies. The lease deals totaled 330,000 square feet, and involved the redevelopment of current office space into life science facilities. Tandem Diabetes Care signed a 182,000-square-foot lease; DermTech signed a 96,000-square-foot lease; and Sorrento Therapeutics took 52,000 square feet.

Investment activity is also up as a result of the leasing demand. In one of the biggest deals recently, City Office REIT has entered into definitive agreements to sell all of its life science holdings in the Sorrento Mesa submarket of San Diego for $576 million. The properties are trading unencumbered by debt to an unnamed buyer. The northern portion of the portfolio traded for $395 million, and the southern portion of the portfolio sold for $181 million.

JLL’s senior life science team in San Diego is handling leasing for the remainder of Breakthrough’s Torrey View campus.